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USAID Funds Tied to Extremist Groups Linked to Terrorist Organizations, Report Finds
By: Fern Sidman
A new investigative report published by the Middle East Forum has revealed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided millions of dollars in funding to extremist groups with ties to designated terrorist organizations and their allies. According to a report that appeared on Tuesday on the Fox News web site, the findings expose alarming gaps in the federal government’s oversight of foreign aid distribution, with USAID and the State Department allegedly approving at least $164 million in grants to radical organizations. The report further states that of this total, $122 million directly benefited groups aligned with designated terrorists and their supporters.
The conservative think tank, Middle East Forum, conducted a multi-year investigation into USAID and State Department spending. As was reported by Fox News, the report alleges that billions of taxpayer dollars have been allocated to leading American aid charities that have repeatedly failed to vet their local partners for terror ties. These organizations, according to the findings, continue to collaborate with radical groups with little to no accountability, while the federal government appears indifferent to the potential consequences.
One of the most concerning discoveries highlighted by the Middle East Forum is USAID’s financial support of Bayader Association for Environment and Development, a Gaza-based organization that received over $900,000 in funding. According to the information provided in the Fox News report, Bayader operates in close cooperation with the Hamas-controlled regime in Gaza. The organization, founded in 2007 shortly after Hamas took control of the region, describes itself as an NGO committed to building civil society. However, the Middle East Forum’s investigation discovered that Bayader has a history of coordinating and meeting with Hamas government officials, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Social Affairs, and Ministry of Agriculture.
Fox News further reported that USAID funding for Bayader began in 2016 and continued until as recently as October 2023—mere days before Hamas launched its brutal terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. The report alleged that these funds were funneled through intermediary organizations such as Catholic Relief Services and medical groups, but USAID has also directly engaged with Bayader. According to the report at Fox News, USAID officials publicly praised the NGO’s work on social media, and a senior USAID official, Jonathan Kamin, was even presented with an award by Bayader at its offices.
Another deeply troubling revelation from the Middle East Forum’s report is USAID’s approval of a $12.5 million grant in 2024 to the American Near East Refugee Agency (ANERA), a long-standing partner of Bayader. Established in 1968 to assist refugees from the Arab-Israeli conflict, ANERA has received significant U.S. government funding over the years. However, Fox News reported that Middle East Forum investigators found numerous instances of ANERA staff publicly expressing support for violence. Social media posts from ANERA employees allegedly include calls for God to “erase the Jews,” expressions of solidarity with “brave prisoners” in Israeli jails, and the description of October 7, 2023, as a “beautiful morning” in reference to Hamas’s terrorist attack.
According to the information contained in the Fox News report, these findings raise serious concerns about USAID’s vetting process and its failure to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being directed to entities that support or have links to terrorism. The Middle East Forum asserted that USAID’s lack of oversight enables radical organizations to exploit international aid channels, providing financial and ideological support to extremist groups while maintaining a facade of humanitarian work.
According to Fox News, the findings, published by the Middle East Forum’s counter-extremism project, Islamist Watch, expose deep flaws in USAID’s oversight of its grant distribution, raising concerns about how American taxpayer dollars are being spent.
Sam Westrop, the director of Islamist Watch, described the report’s findings as “horrifying” in a social media thread, highlighting some of the most alarming examples. The report at Fox News indicated that USAID refused to disclose the total amount of funding allocated to the Unlimited Friends Association, an NGO operating in Gaza with alleged Hamas ties. The head of the organization reportedly made public statements about his intent to “cleanse” the land of “impure Jews.” These revelations, as reported by Fox News, have led to further scrutiny of the agency’s funding mechanisms and its apparent lack of due diligence in ensuring that federal money does not end up supporting terrorist-affiliated groups.
Additionally, the Fox News report revealed that USAID provided millions of dollars to Islamic Relief, an organization whose Gaza branch allegedly maintains direct ties with Hamas leaders. The report specifically points to Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad, who openly declared that Hamas would carry out the October 7 terrorist attack “time and again until Israel is annihilated.” The funding of such an organization by USAID, according to Fox News, raises significant concerns about whether U.S. taxpayer dollars are indirectly supporting entities that promote violence and terrorism.
USAID’s failure to properly vet its funding recipients dates back several years. According to the information included in the Fox News report, USAID directed $125,000 in funds to the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA) in 2015, despite the fact that the U.S. Treasury had officially designated ISRA as a global terrorist organization in 2004 due to its ties to Osama bin Laden. The Middle East Forum’s report states that USAID was fully aware of ISRA’s extremist activities, noting that in 2010, the executive director of ISRA’s U.S. branch, known as the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA), pleaded guilty to charges including money laundering, theft of public funds, and conspiracy. The plea agreement was even listed on USAID’s own website, yet funding continued to flow to ISRA.
Further complicating the situation, Fox News also reported that USAID channeled money to ISRA through the evangelical charity World Vision, which operates humanitarian programs in Sudan. When questioned by Fox News Digital about its association with ISRA, a World Vision official responded that the organization takes “compliance obligations seriously” and had suspended the grant upon learning of ISRA’s designation as a banned organization. The official further stated that World Vision would “never knowingly put those we serve or our staff at risk” by working with an organization on the U.S. sanctions list. However, as the Fox News report pointed out, this response does not explain why due diligence was not conducted before funding was distributed.
Despite repeated inquiries from Fox News Digital, the organizations Bayader, the American Near East Refugee Agency, and Catholic Relief Services failed to respond to requests for comment regarding their alleged connections to extremist groups or their role in distributing USAID funds. This lack of transparency has only fueled further skepticism about how USAID oversees its grant recipients and the level of accountability within the agency.
The investigation comes at a time when USAID is facing intense scrutiny from the Trump administration, particularly from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), chaired by Elon Musk. According to the report at Fox News, DOGE is actively investigating USAID’s spending practices and considering significant reforms, including the potential shutdown of the agency. USAID is currently led by interim director and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has made it clear that major changes are on the horizon.
As Fox News reported, USAID announced on February 4 that nearly all of its personnel would be placed on leave by the end of the week, except for those in mission-critical roles. Its overseas offices were reportedly instructed to shut down operations as the agency undergoes a sweeping reorganization. Lawmakers, media outlets, and policy experts have since been reviewing USAID’s past spending records, uncovering numerous instances of questionable expenditures. Some of the more frivolous projects funded by the agency include a localized version of Sesame Street in Iraq and pottery classes in Morocco.
Founded in 1961 under the Kennedy administration, USAID has historically operated as an independent agency working alongside the State Department to allocate foreign aid. However, with Rubio at the helm, the future of the agency remains uncertain. According to Fox News, Rubio informed bipartisan lawmakers on February 3 that USAID may soon be abolished entirely, as the administration seeks to overhaul U.S. foreign aid policies and eliminate wasteful spending.
The revelations from the Middle East Forum’s investigation raise pressing questions about the effectiveness of USAID’s funding oversight and whether American taxpayers have unknowingly contributed to organizations with extremist affiliations. Whether the federal government will take decisive action to address these concerns remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: USAID’s future hangs in the balance.
